I have always been insecure about plant propagation. This is not to say that my plant holdings have failed to increase. I glory in the fact that many of my garden beauties propagate themselves by flagrant reseeding. The daylilies increase all on their own, as do ajugas and other plants that spread by underground roots, … Read more
It has been at least four years since I last grew the lovely plumbago, with its cascading habit and sky-blue flowers. This was not because I had grown tired of plumbago, but because my last plumbago grew tired of me and died. I did not take it personally, since the death happened in January, as … Read more
Spring has arrived and the winter ceasefire in my personal, perpetual war on English ivy has officially expired. A pile of the severed vines sits in the backyard, waiting to be obliterated in the mulching process. This was only the first salvo of the new growing season, but it gave me enormous satisfaction, not to … Read more
Sometimes a plant is not what it seems. A “rose of Sharon” is not a rose at all, but a member of the mallow or hollyhock family. Neither “peace lilies” nor daylilies are members of the lily or Liliaceae genus. Instead they belong to the arum and hemerocallis genera respectively. This is why I have … Read more
It has been a long winter in this part of the world. After several “open” winters with little snow and relatively warm temperatures, we have been treated to cold weather, often coupled with high winds, and repeated snowy days. Everything is relative, of course, and compared with parts of Minnesota, our snow amounts have been … Read more
